Some say he puts the COO in COOL. Enter Andy Norman, our new Chief Operating Officer.

Andy joins Myke Parrot (CEO) and Rik Alexander (Chair) to help steer our 40-strong crew into a high-growth future. He has scaled studios to 400 people, navigated the halls of the BBC, and spent 25 years in the trenches of the games industry.

We sat down with Andy to talk about why he is a ‘strategic asset’ (his words… well, our words, but he is keeping them), and whether or not he is actually the inspiration for David Brent.

CodeDev: Andy, you have had a storied career. Tell us a little about the road that led you to CodeDev.

Andy: Honestly? I don’t know how any of it happened. There was no grand plan. I studied psychology, did an ‘MBA in a year’ on a graduate enterprise programme, and then spent 10 years at the BBC as a Producer. I have been in games for over 25 years now, but I still tell people I don’t know what I want to do when I grow up!

CodeDev: Exciting stuff, and you’re being very modest!; you led a large, successful team within Keywords Studios and now you’ve joined a specialised, high-growth environment here. What made CodeDev the right place for your next chapter?

Andy: It was the culture. CodeDev did not just tolerate my need for thinking time, they called it a ‘strategic asset.’ I was not going to correct them! When you find a team that values the way you work and has this much raw talent, you jump at it.

CodeDev: We’ll be sure to add ‘thinking time’ as a special ability on your character bio… Looking back at all those years in the industry, is there a specific win that defines your professional approach?

Andy: I am ‘people first’ whenever I can be. My favourite moments are when someone pops up years later and says, “Remember me? You encouraged me to do XYZ, and I never looked back.” Motivation is everything. Motivated people will pull up trees.

CodeDev: We love that about you Andy! What is the best advice you ever received?

Andy: 

1. No one is indispensable
2. Any direction is better than no direction
3. Never say there are three important things, as you will only remember two

Actually, here’s another three advice-oids, from me:

1. There’s only ever one question; ‘How does this affect me?’
2. There’s only ever one response; ‘Depends’
3. There’s only ever one way to do things; ‘Carefully’

CodeDev: We love to shout about our 400 years of combined experience. As a ‘people-first’ COO, how do you harness that much seniority without it becoming a ‘too many cooks’ situation?

Andy: Carefully! When you have got 400 years of experience in one room, you are basically running a Council of Experts. I treat that experience as a superpower. The trick is making sure everyone gets a turn at the microphone: the new starters, the quiet ones, and not just the folks who have been holding the mic since the Amiga era.

CodeDev: Balancing the Amiga veterans with fresh perspectives is definitely the secret sauce. On the topic of keeping everyone heard – we are a remote-friendly studio, so how do you keep a global team feeling like a single unit?

Andy: Over-communicate everything. And have a sense of humour. Creating teams and rituals that aren’t just meetings is vital. If the only time people see each other is when something is on fire, you do not have a team; you have a distributed emergency response unit. Our managers have to be team-builders, mentors, and career development experts too.

CodeDev: As we scale up from 40 people, what are the pillars of studio culture you believe are non-negotiable for maintaining that high-quality output?

Andy: Accountability and the freedom to say “this is not good enough yet”, without anyone panicking. If you protect that honesty, quality takes care of itself. We are just as committed to success as our partners are.

CodeDev: That ‘unapologetic honesty’ is exactly why our partners trust us and how we are 100% focused on Unreal Engine. From your operations perspective, why is that better than being engine agnostic?

Andy: Specialisation means fewer unknowns and faster onboarding. We speak the same technical language as our partners from day one. It allows us to outpace generalist studios because we are not learning the tools, we are mastering the output.

CodeDev: It definitely gives us a head start with new partners when we can skip the ‘how do we do this?’ phase. Now, there is a common misconception that a COO is just there to enforce the rules. Is that how you see your role?

Andy: Not at all. I like the concept of ‘just-in-time ceremony.’ You add process and management when you really need it, not too soon and not too late. I am actually here to remove friction, delete unnecessary processes, and make sure the good ideas can actually thrive.

CodeDev: Let us look forward: when we’re sitting here again in 18 months, what is the one big milestone you want us to be celebrating?

Andy: That we are still happy. That we scaled through success, built trust, and we still like each other. Scaling without becoming miserable? That is the real achievement.

The Rapid-Fire Round

CodeDev: We will drink to that! Let us finish with some quick hits. How would your team describe your leadership style in three words?

Andy: Indispensable, directed, and… the other thing.

CodeDev: What does your downtime look like?

Andy: I play RPGs and wargames, both on the screen and on the tabletop.

CodeDev: A true gamer through and through. If you could only play one game for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Andy: Probably Xcom, if I can pick a franchise. Civilization is a close second. And, ooo, that new game you guys are making… that looks awesome. Probably that one too!

CodeDev: We see what you did there! Okay, final challenge. Two truths, one lie… give us your best shot.

Andy:

1. David Brent from The Office is based on me.
2. Joe Strummer once asked me for my autograph.
3. I am amazing at this game.

Want to know which one is the lie? You will have to connect with Andy on LinkedIn to find out!